Nick Swisher enjoys role as starter

Starting for the third consecutive game Saturday night, Swisher continued to rake, going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, a triple, three RBI and three runs. In five games this season (he pinch-hit in each of the first two), Swisher is 7-for-13 (.538) with six extra-base hits, leading the Yankees with two homers and nine RBI.

Advertisement

Swisher lost out to Xavier Nady for the right field job in spring training, but when Joe Girardi broke the news to Swisher, the manager assured him that he would find at-bats for him one way or another.

Swisher's versatility - he can play anywhere in the outfield as well as first base - has helped Girardi keep that promise. Swisher started in right on Thursday and Friday, and he was penciled in as the left fielder Saturday night - batting second in place of Johnny Damon - before Mark Teixeira was scratched with a sore left wrist.

"Skip told me he was going to make it work," Swisher said. "He told me to trust him, I trust him."

Swisher walked in the first and scored on Jorge Posada's two-run double, then tripled past a diving Willie Bloomquist in right in the third, pushing the Yankees' lead to 3-0.

"He hasn't done that too often, so it was fun to watch - and fun to get on him," Damon said of the triple. "He took a long time to get there, so hopefully that doesn't mean we'll have more conditioning next spring."

Swisher's third at-bat broke things open, as his two-run homer off Horacio Ramirez in the fifth gave CC Sabathia a 6-0 lead. "After that home run," Damon said, "we felt like we had this game won."

Girardi has stressed his desire to use the same batting order as often as possible, so he's been writing Swisher's name into the lineup in the same spot as the player he's been replacing. When Teixeira was scratched, Damon returned to his No. 2 spot, moving Swisher to the third slot as the first baseman.

"I was hitting three-hole for the New York Yankees! What?" Swisher said with a huge grin. "I was really excited about that, so I just wanted to go out and have a good day."

Every day this season has seemed like a good day for Swisher, who struggled last season during his one year with the White Sox. He hit just .219 for Chicago and didn't always see eye-to-eye with manager Ozzie Guillen, but he said he learned a lot from that experience.

"In this game, you're going to have ups and downs," Swisher said. "Last year, I got knocked down pretty good, but I decided to get back up. It's been such a fun year, and the success we've been having of late has been because we're having so much fun and playing the game we love."